This blog post is part of a series of personal articles written by participants of our scholarship programme NGOJobs for Europe. If you are going abroad to start a new job or internship you can apply for funding.
My name is Antoine, I come from France and I am an intern at the UNCAC Coalition in Vienna. The Coalition is a non-profit and non-governmental umbrella organisation that advocates for the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The Coalition aims to connect civil society actors and stimulate civil participation in decision-making processes around the world, while advocating on an international level for more transparency, accountability, and stronger anti-corruption measures.
It is crucial to understand that corruption is a global challenge that impacts millions of people, hinders development, increases poverty, and negatively impacts the environment. As a result, choosing the UNCAC Coalition was for me an obvious choice that matched my aspirations and values. The team is composed of motivated, extremely competent, and communicative members, which allows me to learn and progressively build a solid professional expertise.
I have learned a lot over the first few weeks: I got to expand my knowledge on corruption issues, the functioning of international organisation such as the United Nations (UN) and gained useful technical skills such as in-depth website knowledge or blog post writing, among many other things. I am lucky to be included in various tasks performed by the team, I benefit a lot from their individual expertise and skills. I am given the chance to perform tasks and receive feedback that gives me the chance to perfect myself to eventually achieve the highest standards in the non-profit sector.
The city of Vienna is a great choice for anyone looking for a vibrant and multicultural city. Vienna is home to multiple international organisations, NGOs and social businesses working in various different fields. As such, Vienna is one of the leading cities for innovation and social impact. Living here enables you to be surrounded by passionate and driven people in a place that is beautiful inside and out.
The support by the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) goes beyond financial help, it includes personal support and technical assistance, which makes it particularly valuable for me. I was, for instance, offered free language classes, which will help me feel even more included in the local life. The support provided by the ESC is moreover beneficial for our organisation, it gives us the opportunity to organise an awayday to build our capacity, strengthen our work, and reinforce even further the cohesion within our team.
A sponsored team event
November 2020
Not only the participants can receive funding, the host organizations can also qualify for a small grant. In the case of the UNCAC Coalition, the funding was invested in a team event. In the following you will find a small report from the team:
At the beginning of November, the members of the UNCAC Coalition Vienna Hub Team organized a company outing to the Waldviertel.
Led by two outside consultants, the team worked to build stronger bonds, gain insight and appreciation for one another, and learn new ways of working together as a coherent entity. The gathering was not only important for team building, but also helped develop new ones Strategy of the organization. The primary goal was to find innovative and effective ways to make even better use of our resources in order to strengthen and expand the impact of our work.
Many thanks to NGOJobs.eu and the promotion of the European Solidaritycorps for your support!”
Betina, UNCAC Coalition
